Tampa has been one of the largest cities in Florida ever since the railroad reached town in the 1880s and businessmen such as Henry B. Plant made their mark on the city with their contributions to the city via land and architecture. The Spanish, Cubans and Italians helped grow the Ybor City district of Tampa into the cigar capital of the United States by the early 20th century, by extension putting the entire city on the map.

It wasn’t all smiles for the bustling city, however, as the money that the cigars brought in ended up sustaining one of the largest Mafia operations in the country, and Tampa almost fell to the violence fueled by organized crime. By the 1960s, the cigar industry dried up, and so did much of Tampa’s influence nationally.

Tampa rebuilt itself as a family tourist destination with the grand opening of Busch Gardens and its subsequent success in the 1960s. The city also became well-regarded statewide for education with the steady growth of the University of South Florida. The 1970s brought an NFL franchise to Tampa and many millions of dollars in revenue with it. Finally, after decades of neglect, Ybor City blossomed again, this time as a nightclub district.